These Affordable Open Wireless Earbuds Have Bose Beat

My parents always said, “You get what you pay for,” and at the ripe age of 33, I’ve often found that to be true. If you buy knockoffs, this is usually what you’ll get: a copy of something that’s cheaper, but probably not as good as the real deal. usually, This is what you are going to get. but not always.

Sometimes, if Soundtrack’s new Clip1 wireless earbuds are any indication, you’re In fact Get your favorite new pair of open-style wireless earbuds at this price (for very little money).

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Sorry, Bose

I’ve used a few pairs of open wireless earbuds in my time, and there was always one pair that was my favorite: Bose’s Ultra Open Earbuds. I personally like Bose’s clip-on design, which is comfortable and (at least in my opinion) looks great – more like a piece of jewelery than a pair of wireless earbuds. Also, Bose’s Ultra Open earbuds shouldn’t work, but they do. Wireless earbuds actually tuck the speaker away Back Your ear, while a solid plastic lip stays inside and keeps the whole thing in place. Despite that weird, very indirect way of delivering audio, they sound great. There’s just one problem, and that’s that they’re extremely expensive.

Nearly two years on from their release date, the Ultra Open earbuds are still $300. That’s a great price to pay for wireless earbuds that you probably won’t want to use all the time, every day. But $70? Now We are talking.

Unlike Bose’s Ultra Open earbuds, Soundpeats’ Clip1 start at less than half the price. While you may be raising your eyebrows wondering what kind of sacrifice you’re making in the sound department, I’m here to tell you that the Clip1 may be a lot less of a compromise than you might expect. Quickly slipping the Clip1 into my ears and loading up Spotify, I noticed that Soundpeats paid particular attention to fidelity.

I started with some jazz, Wes Montgomery’s “While We’re Young,” and I noticed quite a bit of low end and very little distortion, even with the volume on my phone turned up to over 75%. The guitar riffs sounded natural and subtle, like I was in the room. I could hear the subtle string rumble and even the soft fuzz of the 1961 recording process, which was an artifact of recording tunes at the time. More than a solid start.

Other genres were also translated in a similar manner. I listened to some rock songs that had a lot going on in the instrumental and production department and the Clip1 crushed it. In “Castleman” by Floaty, I was able to hear all guitar tracks clearly and distinctly, with very little distortion. Vocals were distinct from the mix but not overly pronounced, and the low end was present but not overwhelming. Similarly, with electronic music, Clip1 continued to impress. I listened to Todd Terje’s “Delorean Dynamite” and the driving arpeggiated synths sounded downright gritty, with shakers and other resonating percussion atmospherics but well accounted for.

If all this sounds like I’m yelling too loudly, well, that’s just what I am. The Clip1 exceeds my expectations in terms of sound, and it’s clear that Soundpeats has put in the effort at the hardware level to accomplish this. Inside the Clip1, there are 12mm drivers, supported by dual magnets. According to Soundpeats, the use of two magnets is meant to reduce distortion and provide more accurate, uniform sound, as two magnets equate to less variability in the way the wireless earbuds’ diaphragm moves. The results are clear – literally. These are some of the best sounding open wireless earbuds I’ve used to date, and I’ve used quite a few from Sony, Nothing, and Bose so far.

In addition to sounding great, I also think they’re just as loud as Bose’s Ultra Open earbuds, if not a little louder. Due to the design of open wireless earbuds, either pair will never be ideal in high-volume situations where you’d want a more traditional pair of wireless earbuds with tips and active noise cancellation (ANC). However, there has to be a middle ground where you can still hear your audio well as well as your surroundings. In my humble opinion, Soundpeats strikes that balance well.

In crucial subway testing, I was able to listen to my after-work Buffalo Bills sports talk podcast while keeping one foot in environmental sound. This is more than I can say for other players participating in open-ear audio games, who have a bad habit of being immersed in loud environments.

Which clip gets the comfort crown

Besides being able to hear more of your surroundings, another reason people buy open-style wireless earbuds is that they’re much more comfortable than using something that you insert inside your ear, even if just a little bit.

While both the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds and the Soundpeats Clip1 have a similar design (a clip that you wrap around your ear), there are subtle differences between the two that you should know about. As I mentioned, Bose’s Ultra Open earbuds have a plastic knob that goes inside your ear, while the speaker, a round little drum, is actually stuck in Back Your ears. The indirect approach to delivering audio somehow produces solid, well-balanced sound.

Similarly, the Clip1 also clips around your ear like a clip, but instead of placing the speaker behind your ear like the Bose, the speaker tucks into your outer ear in the Clip1, while the battery and magnets are actually located in the back. I’ve already covered how that design delivers sound, and as much as I’m satisfied with that end result, I’m equally satisfied with the comfort. The Clip1, like Bose’s Ultra Open earbuds, are great for long periods of wear and feel sturdy and comfortable when wrapped around my ears. If you’re the type of person who hates the feeling of inserting silicone tips into your ears like you do with wireless earbuds with ANC, the Clip 1 will feel like a huge relief. The Clip1 may also have a slight edge over Bose, as Soundpeats manages to reduce the weight of each of its earbuds by 5 grams, unlike Bose’s Ultra Open earbuds, which weigh 6.3 grams per earbud.

Like Bose’s Ultra Open earbuds, the Clip1 also allow a good amount of ambient noise to flow in, which, in this case, is exactly as it should be. While wearing the Clip1, I was still able to hear coworkers and respond to people in my office, even though they couldn’t hear what I was hearing; In this case, it turned out to be a podcast at about 75% volume. Although I didn’t test the Clip1 on a bike, I would feel more comfortable wearing these open wireless earbuds in such a situation. Needed To listen to my surroundings. I

If you need hands-free controls, the Clip1 also have touch inputs that allow you to double- and triple-tap the piece located behind your ear on the earbuds to play and pause and skip a track, respectively. It feels a little weird at first, patting it behind your ear like that, but once you get the hang of it, they work well.

As long as we’re talking about design, it’s worth mentioning one area that I don’t really think the Clip1 is ahead of Bose, and that’s looks. There’s nothing particularly objectionable about the Clip1 design, but when compared to the Bose it just isn’t my cup of tea. The Clip1 are a little lower profile than the Ultra Open earbuds, which is nice, but I really appreciate the almost cyberpunk look, even if they’re more noticeable when clipped to your ears. Similarly, the Clip1’s charging case is nice but feels very cheap, thanks to its shiny, smooth plastic as opposed to the Bose’s almost matte plastic.

This is a minor complaint, all things considered, and it’s even more forgivable when you take into account that the Clip1 is $70 compared to Bose’s current $300 price tag on Ultra Open earbuds.

Battery life and features

Open wireless earbuds may not have the benefit of noise canceling like other wireless earbuds, but the lack of ANC is actually a boon in some ways, especially when it comes to battery life. According to Soundpeats, the Clip1 should get 8 hours of playtime on a single charge when played at 60% volume. That battery life tracks in my testing; After more than two hours of listening, I was at about 80%, although I wasn’t listening to the audio the entire time (I did take a few short breaks in between).

I wouldn’t call 8 hours impressive by wireless earbuds standards, but it notably beats the Bose Ultra Open, which gets about 7.5 hours on a single charge. For reference, some wireless earbuds I’ve tested this year, like the Technics EAH-AZ100, last 10 hours on a single charge. with ANC active. Still, those wireless earbuds are also $300 compared to the Clip1’s $70 price tag, so maybe that comparison is a little unfair. For me, I don’t have any major complaints in the battery life department when it comes to the Clip1; I think they’ll last long enough to satisfy most people.

As far as features go, there are a number of things to take advantage of in the Soundtrack app, including the ability to toggle Dolby Audio for “Movie Mode” and “Music Mode,” which are meant to provide “immersive 3D sound.” I tested both, and while I could have done without the movie mode (sorry, I know it gives the in-movie audio a sense of place, but I think it ruins everything), the music mode actually sounds great. I don’t need to have Music mode on to enjoy the Clip1’s sound, but I find using it gives a better sense of space and atmosphere to most songs.

The Soundpeats app also has additional EQ options, including preset EQs for genres like rock and electronic and even a preset EQ to boost treble and a granular 10-band EQ if you’re that kind of person. There Is There’s an option to custom-tune the EQ with a hearing test so that the wireless earbuds are tailored to your specific hearing ability, but when I tried to test that, I noticed that many of the tones being played were hard for me to hear. It’s much harder to pick them up when you’re wearing a pair open Earbuds, where ambient noise is a factor. For that reason, I’m going to go ahead and assume that you can do Take the listening test for personalized EQ on the Clip1, you should make sure you are in a very quiet place when you do this.

As an added bonus, the Soundpeats app also has free, playable white noise for when you want to zone out (think rain sounds and airplane noises) as well as something called “EQ Space” where people can share their custom EQs for things they like to hear. Let’s be honest, most people will never take advantage of that kind of thing, but it’s always good to have the option.

This clip wins the championship

As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of open-style wireless earbuds on the market these days, so it can be hard to decide. However, ultimately, the equation is simple. Most people, when it comes to open audio, just want something that sounds good, is audible in multiple settings, and is comfortable and practical in terms of battery life and features.

For the Clip1, all those boxes are checked, and while the Bose Ultra Open earbuds still have the edge in terms of design, it only matters if you In fact Care about that kind of thing. For most, the $70 price and great fit and sound should be enough to give the Soundpeats a chance at becoming their favorite open-ear wireless buds.